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Iris (Goo Goo Dolls song)
|} "Iris" is a song by American alternative rock band the Goo Goo Dolls. Originally written for the soundtrack of 1998 film City of Angels, the song was later included on the band's sixth album Dizzy Up the Girl. "Iris" has contributed greatly to the band's success. The song's time signature changes from 4/4 to 3/4 and back a number of times and features an unusual guitar tuning in which most of the strings are tuned to D, lending the guitar a chorus-like effect. This song is not only one of the biggest alternative rock staples of the 1990s, it is also one of the biggest crossover hits to date crossing over from modern rock radio to pop and adult contemporary radio, all hitting number one on the formats and being the most played song of 1998 for all formats. Origins and theme John Rzeznik was approached to write a song for the City of Angels soundtrack, and the end product was "Iris". This song propelled the band to stardom, as it stayed on top of Billboard Hot 100 Airplay charts for a record-breaking 18 weeks, and was nominated for three Grammys that year. According to several interviews with Rzeznik, he was experiencing serious bouts of writer's block when he was approached, and was on the verge of quitting the band days before he wrote the song that would launch the band to worldwide fame. Reception Upon its release, "Iris" became second of a string of hits from the film's soundtrack, City of Angels: Music from the Motion Picture. (The first was Alanis Morissette's "Uninvited" and the third was Sarah McLachlan's "Angel".) The song debuted at #66 on the Billboard Hot 100 Airplay chart on April 18th 1998, and eventually spent a record 18 weeks at number one in Hot 100 Airplay. It was not allowed to chart on the Billboard Hot 100 until after it had peaked because no commercial single had been released. However, it did debut at nine. On the Mainstream Rock Tracks chart, "Iris" peaked at number eight. The song was the band's 2nd number one hit on the Modern Rock Tracks chart since their 1995 hit "Name" and Iris stayed at number one for five weeks and the song also hit number one on the Top 40 Mainstream chart for four weeks. The song spent a then-record 17 weeks at number one on the Billboard Adult Top 40 chart (beating No Doubt's 15-week run at number one with "Don't Speak" in 1996-97). The song was also a major international hit. "Iris" spent 31 weeks on the charts and peaked at number 5 on the Irish Singles Chart; it is the thirteenth biggest-selling single there. The Goo Goo Dolls performed this on October 20, 2001 at Madison Square Garden as part of the The Concert for New York City to raise money for victims of the 2001 terrorist attacks. This song was also used in the production of The Bear by Anton Chekov performed by Rebecca Gove and Ioannis Bakogeorgos. Besides the song's success on the charts, "Iris" enjoyed critical acclaim. At the 41st Grammy Awards, "Iris" received nominations for "Record of the Year" and "Pop Performance by a Duo or Group." The song also garnered Johnny Rzeznik a "Song of the Year" nomination. The single was certified Platinum by the RIAA on August 18, 2008. The song was used frequently in the British comedy Gavin and Stacey. The song was ranked at number 39 on Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest pop songs. In October 2012, "Iris" was ranked number one on Billboard's "Top 100 Pop Songs 1992-2012" chart, which ranked the top songs of the first 20 years of the Mainstream Top 40/Pop Songs chart. The list also featured the Goo Goo Dolls' hits "Slide", ranking at number nine, and "Name" at number 24. The Goo Goo Dolls are the only musicians to have three songs on the list, two breaking the top 10 and all three falling within the top 25. They are also the only musicians that have back to back singles (Iris, 1998 and Slide, 1999) featured on the list. Charts James Harrison version